CENTRAL OFFICE OF INFORMATION - The "Heroin screws you up" campaign (UK, 1985)
Three creepy PIFs from the UK in 1985 CONTROL DESCRIPTION: The PIF opens up with a young man standing and leaning against a wall. "Heroin? I dunno what all this fuss is about. I can handle it" The camera fades to another scene where we see the man, looking more tired and unhealthy "OK, so I do heroin a bit now... I can control it. I could stop... if i wanted to" In the next scene the man now looks completely different from what he used to look like when the PIF started. Looking even more unhealthy and missing his coat. "There's no way I'm going to become an addict, I... just do heroin" In the next scene, the man is sitting down with his hands over his head. "It's no problem... I've got this thing under control... I just got a touch it fluently (?)" The camera zooms out, and we hear a narrator say: "Everyone thinks they can control heroin... Until it starts to control them" Text appears on the screen that says HEROIN SCREWS YOU UP The man then says "I could give up tomorrow... couldn't I?" FX: Live action MUSIC: Dark, ominous strings. SOUND FX: We can only really hear the man and the narrator talking. AVAILABILITY: Uncommon, seen on some YouTube channels. SCARE FACTOR: Medium. The dark atmosphere of the PIF, as well as the overall bleakness might make it unsettling to younger viewers. ADDICT DESCRIPTION: We see two teenagers hanging out on a bridge as one of them talks to the other about why he doesn't want to do heroin. (For reference, we'll be referring to the boy in the blue coat as "Boy 1" and the boy in the black coat as "Boy 2") Boy 2: "why not?" The two then start walking over the bridge Boy 1: "Don't want to be an addict do I?" Boy 2: "Come off it! You've got to take it forever to get it that bad" Boy 1: "yeah... But it makes you ill don't it?" Boy 2: "All that stuff about (???)" Boy 1: "Nah... I mean things like... your head and your liver..." (behind Boy 1, we see a shadowy figure walk towards the two boys) Boy 2: "It's just a good buzz!" Another teenager (Who's implied to be an addict) is revealed Boy 2: "What's up, smithy?" Smithy: "Seen Joey? I've... I've got a bit of a cold... y'know, need some stuff... Coming?" Boy 2 nods his head and walks after him The same narrator from 'ADDICT' then says "Whatever anyone says, heroin really does screw you up" Smithy: "Wanna come?" Text appears on the screen that says HEROIN SCREWS YOU UP Boy 1: "Nah... thanks. Not today..." FX: Live action MUSIC: (Same as above) SOUND FX: Nothing much else other than the characters talking AVAILABILITY: Rare, seen on very few YouTube channels SCARE FACTOR: Low. Although the tone and atmosphere is still sinister and bleak, it doesn't have as much of an impact as "ADDICT" does, or better yet, the next PIF on the page... DUMMY By far the scariest PIF featured the campaign DESCRIPTION: We see a dummy look-a-like of a person named "Kate" in a dark corridor as the same narrator from the last two PIFs says: "When friends told Kate that smoking heroin would make her feel good, they forgot to tell her something else... how bad it would also make her feel..." The dummy then falls to the ground as the scene transitions to another part of the corridor as we see another dummy of Kate, this time with her left hand on her right wrist "...How she'd start to look tired, spotty and unhealthy..." Then that dummy falls to the ground as we see another, this time with her left hand over her arm, "...How she'd lose her friends, her looks and her interest in everything but heroin..." That dummy then falls to the ground again as we see yet another dummy of Kate, this time with her right hand on left arm and her left hand on her right arm "...How she'd soon have to take heroin, not to get high... but just to stop feeling down" That dummy then falls to the ground as we then see the real Kate, bending over with her hands on her shoulders "How she'd eventually risk getting blood disease, liver damage and even heart failure" She then rises up with her hands still on her shoulders and says "Yeah, I'm still alive... I suppose" the narrator then says "Don't be a dummy, heroin really does screw you up" Text appears on the screen that says HEROIN SCREWS YOU UP FX: Live action MUSIC: (Same as above) SOUND FX: We can hear a loud THUMP as the dummies hit the floor and, of course, the narrator and Kate talking CHEESE FACTOR: Kate's acting isn't exactly the best. And what's with that awkward science at the end? AVAILABILITY: Uncommon, seen on some YouTube channels. SCARE FACTOR: High to Nightmare, especially in HD. The Dummies of Kate look so unnerving, they fit right in the uncanny valley. The darkly lit area can also quite unnerving to some people. Category:Drugs PIFs Category:PUBLIC INFORMATION FILMS MADE BY THE COI Category:Nightmare-rated PIFs Category:1980's PIFs Category:1985